Mophead



Feb. 7, 1967 w. P. PETTETT 3,302,231

MOPHEAD Filed April 19, 1965 INVENTOR. William R Peffe h United States Patent 3,302,231 MOPHEAD" William P. Pettett, Miami, 0kla., assignor to Pettett Manufacturing Company, Inc., Miami, Okla, a corporation of Oklahoma Filed Apr. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 449,107 2 Claims. (Cl. 15-229) This invention relates to improvements in mop construction and, more particularly, to improved structure for mounting a mophead on a handle.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a mop having an improved holding assembly for connecting a handle to the mophead thereof wherein the assembly makes possible an increase in the effective, available area of each of the opposed working faces of the mophead over that of conventional mops to thereby provide for more efficient use of the mop in accomplishing the tasks for which it is to be used.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a holding assembly of the type described which is relatively simple and rugged in construction and which effectively grips the mophead without causing wear thereof during use of the mop, whereby production costs of the latter are kept at a minimum, and the same can be used over extended periods of time without replacement of the mophead or the components comprising the assembly.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of an assembly of the aforesaid character which is provided with a flat clamping member and a pair of coextensive, fiat fingers spaced from and extending longitudinally of the clamping member whereby to define a space for receiving the looped portions of the strands defining the mophead to thereby assure that the mophead will be held against the gripping member when certain portions of the fingers are secured thereto by a fastener.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of an assembly of the type described which has an endless bail adjacent to the fingers and provided with a central opening having a transverse width equal to or less than the widths of the fingers, whereby the strands of the mophead projecting outwardly from the space defined 'by the clamping member and the fingers will bulge outwardly with respect to the assembly prior to passing through the opening of the bail to thereby assure that the bail will be recessed in the working faces of the mophead and thus will be prevented from engaging the surface over which the mophead is moved during mopping operations.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a holding assembly of the aforesaid character wherein a carriage bolt fastener interconnects the outer extremities of the fingers to the central portion of the clamping member and projects outwardly from the latter so that a handle may be threadably coupled on the fastener and thereby releasably interconnected with the mophead.

A further object of this invention is the provision of fingers with polygonal openings for receiving the fastener, the latter 'being provided with a shoulder having fiat surfaces complemental to the apertures, whereby the fastener is prevented from rotating with respect to the clamping member to thereby facilitate the mounting of the handle directly onto the fastener itself.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a mophead with the holding assembly of the instant invention attached thereto;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, end elevational view of the mophead and assembly;

3,302,231 Patented Feb. 7, 1967 FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of the structure of FIGS. 1 and 2, parts being broken away and in section to illustrate details of construction; and

, FIG. 4 is a plan view of an initially flat strip of bendable material forming a part of the assembly.

Mop 10 includes a mophead 12 comprised of a plurality of strands 14 of absorbent material, each of which are doubled upon themselves and coupled to a holding or clamping assembly 16 with which a handle may be readily coupled. Mophead 12 is provided with a pair of opposed working faces 18 for mopping a surface, such as a floor or the like, as mophead 12 is moved over the surface under the influence of the handle attached to assembly 16.

Assembly 16 includes a flat clamping or backing member 20, a pair of flat fingers 22 defining with member 20 a space 24 for receiving a portion 26 of mophead 12, and a fastener 28 for interconnecting the outer extremities of fingers 22 with member 20 intermediate the ends of the latter. As shown in FIG. 4, member 20 is integral with fingers 22, member 20 and fingers 22 being initially in the form of a fiat sheet or strip 30 of bendable, relatively self-sustaining material, Preferably, strip 30 is formed from a metallic material such as aluminum, steel or the like. Strip 30 is bent at the junctions 32 of member 20 and fingers 22 so that the major portions of fingers 22 are substantially parallel with corresponding major portions of member 20 as shown in FIG. 3. Portion 26 of mophead 12 is defined by the short, looped or doubled sections of strands 14 so that,

the latter extend through space 24 transversely of member 20 and fingers 22. Portion 26 effectively fills space 24 and normally is clamped against the proximal face of member 20 by fingers 22 when the latter are connected at their proximal extremities to member 20',

Member 20 has a central opening 34 which is normally aligned with polygonal apertures 36 in fingers 22 when the latter are overlapped and in the dispositions shown in FIG. 3. Fastener 28 includes a carriage bolt 38 having a head 40 which engages the outer face of one of the fingers 22 as shown in FIG. 3. Bolt 38 has a polygonal shoulder 42 provided with flat surfaces 43 complemental to apertures 36 so that bolt 38 is prevented from rotating relative to fingers 22 and thereby member 20. Bolt 38 extends outwardly from the normally uppermost face of member 20, and a nut 44 releasably retains bolt 38 in place. Upon tightening nut 44, the outer or proximal extremities of fingers 22 are urged toward the central portion of member 20 so that portion 26 is tightly clamped between these components and thereby effectively gripped thereby so as to prevent relative movement of strands 14 with respect to assembly 16.

A handle may be readily coupled to the outwardly projecting portion of 'bolt 38. To this end, a handle having an internally threaded bore may be coupled to bolt 38 so as to permit manipulation of mop 10 by movement of the handle. The threaded bore of the handle could be countersunk to accommodate nut 44 if desired, thus permiting the end of the handle to engage the proximal face of member 20 and thereby enhance the appearance of mop 10 as well as to prevent damage to the handle as might occur upon engagement of the latter with nut 44.

An end-less bail 46 forms a part of assembly 16 and is disposed about mophead 12 at a location in' close proximity to and spaced from member 20 and fingers 22 as shown in FIGS. 1-3. Preferably, bail 46 has a central opening 48 which is provided with a transverse width approximately equal to the transverse widths of fingers 22 as illustrated in FIG. 2. This causes strands 14 to bulge or project outwardly in the region between member 20 and bail 46 as is clear in FIG. 2, before strands 14 extend through opening 48 and away from finger 22. The strands are tightly compacted within opening 48 so that certain of the strands 14 flare outwardly of bail 46 as the outer ends of strands 14 are approached. Thus, bail 46 is effectively disposed Within transversely extending recesses 50 formed in the working faces 18 of mophead 12 and disposed between the major portions of faces 18 and the surfaces 52 formed by the bulging of strands 14 as the same extend outwardly in opposed directions from space 24.

In use, assembly 16 is attached to mophead 12 by initially inserting strands 14 through space 24 and then tightening nut 44 so that portion 26 will be effectively maintained in space 24 against movement relative to member 20 and fingers 22. Since mophead 12 is of stranded material, bolt 38 may be readily inserted through portion 26 so as to effectively intercouple the outer extremities of fingers 22 and the central portion of member 20.

Bail 46 is then secured in place so that strands 14 bulge outwardly to define surfaces 52. As shown in FIG. 4, the central portion of member 20 and the outer extremities of fingers 22 are somewhat enlarged to provide structural rigidity therefor in the vicinities of openings 34 and apertures 36 respectively.

When a handle is coupled to the outwardly projecting portion of bolt 38, mop may be moved over a surface so as to clean the same. Substantially the entire areas of faces 18 are available for mopping operations because the components of assembly 16 present minimum areas extending along faces 18 in any direction. For instance, only the longitudinal edges of member 20 extend transversely of faces 18 and the width of member 20 can be selected to present substantially no projecting portions which could engage the surface over which mop 10 moves.

Fingers 22 are effectively covered by the bulging portions of strands 14. Hence, fingers 22 will not at any time during normal operations of mop 10, engage the surface over which mop 10 passes.

Bail 46 is effectively disposed within recesses 50 and will not engage the last-mentioned surface even if bolt 38 is disposed parallel to the surface. Bail 46 is in relatively close proximity to fingers 22 so that substantially the entire lengths of strands 14 are available for mopping operations. This increase in effective area of the mop presents an advance over conventional mop structures inasmuch as the latter employ bulky and cumbersome holding devices which not only move into engagement with surfaces to be mopped, but which utilize a substantial portion of the strands of the mops in order to interconnect the latter with respective handles.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Structure for securing a mophead to a handle comprising:

an elongated clamping member having a pair of opposed, generally fiat faces and an opening therethrough intermediate the ends thereof;

a generally fiat finger for each end of said member respectively, each finger being integral with said member, the latter and the fingers being formed from an initially flat sheet of bendable material, each finger extending longitudinally of said member toward the other finger whereby to define a space between said member and the fingers for receiving a portion of a mophead, the extremities of said fingers spaced from said member being overlapped with each other and provided with respective aligned, polygonal apertures, the latter being aligned with said opening of said member;

a bolt having a shoulder complemental to said apertures, said bolt extending through said opening and said shoulder extending through said apertures with said bolt projecting outwardly from the face of said member opposite to the face adjacent to said fingers and having a head engaging one of said extremities for limiting the movement of the bolt outwardly of said opposite face of the member;

a nut threadably mounted on said bolt and normally in engagement with said opposite face, whereby said extremities are interconnected with said member to clamp said portion of the mophead therebetween; and

an endless bail adjacent to and spaced from said fingers and having an opening therethrough for receiving the mophead, said opening of the bail having a maximum transverse width substantially equal to the maximum transverse width of said fingers, whereby the part of the mophead between the bail and said space will project outwardly from the sides of the fingers and thence inwardly toward said opening of the bail.

2. A device for securing a mophead to a handle comprising:

an elongated clamping member having a pair of opposed faces and an opening therethrough intermediate the ends thereof;

a pair of fingers jointed to respective ends of the member and each extending longitudinally of said member toward the other finger, whereby to define a space between the member and the fingers for receiving a portion of the mophead, the extremities of said fingers spaced from said member being overlapped with each other and provided with respective aligned apertures in alignment with said opening, one of said apertures being of polygonal configuration;

a threaded fastener having shoulder-presenting structure complemental to said one aperture, said fastener extending through said opening and said structure being disposed in said one aperture with the fastener projecting outwardly from the face of said member opposite to the face adjacent said fingers and having a head engaging one of said extremities for limiting the movement of the fastener outwardly of said opposite face of the member;

means threaded on said fastener and normally in engagement with said opposite face, whereby said extremities are interconnected with said member to clamp said portion of the mophead therebetween; and

an endless bail adjacent to and spaced from said fingers and having an opening therethrough for receiving the mophead, said opening of the bail having a maximum transverse width substantially equal to the maximum transverse width of said fingers, whereby the part of the mophead between the bail and said space will project outwardly from the sides of the fingers and then inwardly through said opening of the bail.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,115,442 10/1914 Lamb 15-2291 1,344,112 6/1920 Bassett l5229.-1 1,852,349 4/1932 Huguley 15229.1 1,899,283 2/1933 Lorang 15-147 X 1,899,845 2/1933 Benedict 15153 X 2,673,124 3/1954 Mellor 15-229.0 2,724,138 11/1955 Ballinger l5-229.0 2,729,841 l/ 1956 Littleton 15-2291 3,121,246 2/1964 Pettett 15229.0

DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examiner, 

2. A DEVICE FOR SECURING A MOPHEAD TO A HANDLE COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED CLAMPING MEMBER HAVING A PAIR OF OPPOSED FACES AND AN OPENING THERETHROUGH INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS THEREOF; A PAIR OF FINGERS JOINTED TO RESPECTIVE ENDS OF THE MEMBER AND EACH EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID MEMBER TOWARD THE OTHER FINGER, WHEREBY TO DEFINE A SPACE BETWEEN THE MEMBER AND THE FINGERS FOR RECEIVING A PORTION OF THE MOPHEAD, THE EXTREMITIES OF SAID FINGERS SPACED FROM SAID MEMBER BEING OVERLAPPED WITH EACH OTHER AND PROVIDED WITH RESPECTIVE ALIGNED APERTURES IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID OPENING, ONE OF SAID APERTURES BEING OF POLYGONAL CONFIGURATION; A THREADED FASTENER HAVING SHOULDER-PRESENTING STRUCTURE COMPLEMENTAL TO SAID ONE APERTURE, SAID FASTENER EXTENDING THROUGH SAID OPENING AND SAID STRUCTURE BEING DISPOSED IN SAID ONE APERTURE WITH THE FASTENER PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM THE FACE OF SAID MEMBER OPPOSITE TO THE FACE ADJACENT SAID FINGERS AND HAVING A HEAD ENGAGING ONE OF SAID EXTREMITIES FOR LIMITING THE MOVEMENT OF THE FASTENER OUTWARDLY OF SAID OPPOSITE FACE OF THE MEMBER; MEANS THREADED ON SAID FASTENER AND NORMALLY IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID OPPOSITE FACE, WHEREBY SAID EXTREMITIES ARE INTERCONNECTED WITH SAID MEMBER TO CLAMP SAID PORTION OF THE MOPHEAD THEREBETWEEN; AND AN ENDLESS BAIL ADJACENT TO AND SPACED FROM SAID FINGERS AND HAVING AN OPENING THERETHROUGH FOR RECEIVING THE MOPHEAD, SAID OPENING OF THE BAIL HAVING A MAXIMUM TRANSVERSE WIDTH SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE MAXIMUM TRANSVERSE WIDTH OF SAID FINGERS, WHEREBY THE PART OF THE MOPHEAD BETWEEN THE BAIL AND SAID SPACE WILL PROJECT OUTWARDLY FROM THE SIDES OF THE FINGERS AND THEN INWARDLY THROUGH SAID OPENING OF THE BAIL. 